World Cup ticket sales lag as Arlington adjusts expectations ahead of kickoff
New information released by the City of Arlington offers an eye-opening picture of World Cup expectations versus reality.
That new information suggests demand for tickets has been lower than anticipated.
With a little more than two weeks before the first match, we're getting mixed signals from the City of Arlington and World Cup promoters about whether the onslaught of international visitors to DFW will actually live up to expectations.
During a presentation on Wednesday, Arlington City Council members were told that of the 700,000 total tickets available for the nine matches at the stadium here, only 35-50% have been sold.
To be fair, most of the tickets for the elimination round matches have not even gone on sale yet.
The North Texas World Cup Organizing Committee would not comment on ticket sales but did tell us that their data shows ticket sales are trending upward.
Brent DeRaad with the Arlington Convention and Visitors Bureau says the outlook for businesses and hotels counting on an influx of travelers is still optimistic.
But he did say we are likely to see fewer international visitors than anticipated.
"I think there's a little bit of headwind out there in terms of what we are seeing internationally," said DeRaad. "With the war in Iran, we are seeing higher fuel prices out there right now. The ticket prices for this FIFA World Cup are significantly higher than what we've seen previously as well, and I think just the overall expense to attend right now is probably a little bit higher than anticipated."
Aziz Francis Kotby has a lot riding on strong attendance at the upcoming World Cup matches. His restaurant is just down the street from AT&T Stadium, and he's invested in a food truck that will be parked right next to it.
"We've hired up," Kotby said. "We've upped our pars for how much groceries to buy, how much capacity we want to serve. For us, you know, you don't gotta get ready if you stay ready. So, starting June 1, we're going to be all hands on deck till the end of the summer."
The restaurant owner says he isn't concerned about news from the City of Arlington.
"It's going to sell out. The hotels are going to fill up," he said. "You know, maybe they didn't get to have those mega high prices that they were hoping for, but it will come back more to a local event and it'll be a blast."
